Palm Sunday Procession

Workers or Shirkers?

I was passing Jessops in Reading yesterday. It is a place I used to work and a place where I still have some friends.

My friends were cleaning up the shop and, I guess, doing a stock take for the administrators. It struck me that there was an important question. My friends, soon to be unemployed, were up until Jessops going in to administration "workers" but will the Government now call them "shirkers" because they have lost their jobs in the Clegg/Cameron double dip and now possibly triple dip depression.

I am sorry to see Jessops fail they are one of the high sts stalwalts. I fear however that my friends will be branded by the government as "shirkers" despite losing their jobs through no fault of their own.

They are a great bunch of guys at Jessops and I hope they get paid for the time they spent stocktaking and will be working again soon.

Breaking My Balls!

 As a cyclist I am very sensitive to pot holes and cracks in the road.

In Crescent Road, East Reading round the corner from one of our local Ward Councillors there is a huge constellation of pot holes which cause enormous runctions when I cycle along the road.

The pot holes are so deep that my testicles are violently crushed every time my bike lurches in to them. Its not as if they, the pot holes not my testicles, are avoidable, they lie across the centre of the carriageway and give cyclists nowhere to go while avoiding parked cars and nutter drivers who refuse to give way.


It is probable that my local Councillors are happy to see my bollocks  broken, however I wonder why these inch deep craters have not been properly dealt with. As you can see from the pictures there has been an attempt to patch them however the fix is lamentable and  they remain a lethal trap for any under confident  cyclist.


I have reported the pot holes to the Council and hopefully they will be sorted shortly, but I wonder why they have been left in such a sorry state. Its not as if they aren't obvious surely they must be a priority, if not on testicular health grounds on road safety grounds. I hope for the sake of my bruised undercarriage they are sorted soon and will be monitoring the state of the road closely.

Don't Stop Believing!

My wife and I have just come back from watching Tom Cruise's new film, Rock of Ages at the pictures.

It is such fun, its a bit like Glee (Lite) crossed with Fame. It has a stellar cast and its massively diverting. But why mention it in a vaguely left of centre blog, btw nice to see all of my usual readership slowly coming back, I mention it because of the "theme" tune of Journey's "Don't stop believing". This ditty seems to have been used all over the place in 2010. 2011, and 2012.

In twenty years time I am pretty sure that this song will be a signature tune played on look backs at the Tory double dip recession. Its theme of hope in adversity seems to be a call to action for the left of centre to  stand up against the Coalition, to fight their attempts to take away benefits to the under 25's, to reduce the army to the smallest its been for 200 years and pathetic growth in the economy.

When I was a teenager, "Ghost Town" was the theme tune to the early 1980's when Thatcher was warming up her campaign against her own nation and Journey seems to be the call to fight Cameron, Clegg and their respective parties at every opportunity.

As a song its a bit lightweight for me, but as a concept I wonder whether one day it will replace "Jerusalem"  at Womens' Institute meetings and perhaps it will one day replace the "Red Flag" at Labour Party conferences. So the message for Sunday is Don't Stop Believing, fight, fight and fight again......

No More Ovedrcrowding

Family houses being bought up and turned in to student houses crammed full of people has long been a blight on Park Ward.

Shortly RBC will make it much more difficult for landlords to wreck a road. I know what its like living in a blighted road. I lived in Norris Rd with bullying landlords who did as they pleased and ignored the full time residents and the safety of their tenants.

The map shows the area that the Council have proposed making it impossible to change a property in to an HMO without planning permission. It covers Redlands, Katesgrove and part of Park. Residents will soon have the opportunity to object to the HMO's.

A good thing I say.

Effective Councillor

The attached picture of dumped rubbish was taken about 100m from the front door of my local Green Councillor.
We quiet often see dumped rubbish on this corner. The rubbish linger for weeks and our "active" local Councillor seems powerless and ineffective in getting it cleaned up.
At this year's elections we will see the majority party in Park Ward showing how nice they are as their environmentally friendly supporters, all with 4 bedroom houses and 2 gas guzzlers in the drive put up their posters. But what do they acheive?
They acheive nothing, as my picture shows, the rubbish piles up in the streets.
So this is why I am voting Labour in May's elections. I am voting for effective Councillors who not only want to change things but actually CAN change things.

OK I admit it- I like riding my bike

Ok I admit it I love riding my bike places. I am not a complete bike nut,. I still drive my car, but I love the sense of freedom it gives me.

I ride alot around Reading and alot around NW Surrey....Its a long story as to why, but I am surprised at how dangerous riding around Surrey feels. This is especially worrying because Surrey will host the Olympic cycle race.

My morning ride around Surrey takes me from my parents in Chertsey, through Addlestone, beyond Weybridge and on in to Hersham. A tidy 7 or 8 miles. Not too far, not too short.

Last week a woman in a black Audi, tried to run me over as she reversed out of her drive. She really did try and squash me, it was like she had radar and every time I tried to get out of her way she turned her car in my direction again. Then on the same journey a cab driver drove so close to me I could see his filings, well almost. Then there was the usual Weybridge set with their 4 x 4's who haven't seen abike before, apparently.

Its a nightmare add that to the fact that the roads are narrow, and drivers insist on driving in to the area reserved for cyclists at junctions I imagine I am now 10 years older with the worry.

But there is now an answer. The Times is running a new interactive map where all road users, including cyclists can highlight dangerous roads. It seems easy to use and a good way to gently release the mental energy built up after grappling with Surrey's cycle unfriendly roads.....

You can get to it here . Its not behind the paywall so everyone can contribute. Go on you know you want to.

Can You Spot the Deliberate Mistake?

So can you? I suspect not....the problem with this scene is that the lamp post show, which is outside my house hasn't worked for ages.

We have a Councillor in our road, Hamilton Road, who promised to work for the neighbourhood. But strangely we have received no communication from her about this faulty lamp post, when it will  be fixed and when the street safety will be back to normal.

Because of the thundering silence I rang the Council and was told that the post was being replaced with a new one, because the current one is defective. I hope that the fact that I walked in to it face first last year didn't do it any damage.

So look forward to a shiny new lampost - I promise I won't walk in to this one. It will be great to feel safe in the road again.

But from our local champion....nothing.

Too Many Takeaways?

There has been an application to site a Burger Van in the car park of the College Arms and I am calling for the Council to reject the application.

The full reference of the application is;Application for Street Trading Consent by the College Arms,Wokingham Road, reference ES/LIC/0050024

I believe that the Council should reject the application for the following reasons:

1. Density of Takeaways.

The Wokingham Road is a awash with takeaways and opportunities for people to get food late at night. In the parade of shops next to the pub there are at least 4 and in the shopping area itself there are countless others. It is already possible to buy food there at 3am if you so desire so adding another food outlet will over power the rest of the area.

2. Anti Social Behaviour

The burger bar will be up off the main road. It will be unpoliced and will of course not have any toilets. There have already been incidents in local takeaways, such as the shooting at the PFC last year. The burger van will be a magnet for potential Anti Social Behaviour and will at the very least lead to an increase in the number of people wanting to relieve themselves in the car park.

3. Nuisance

The car park currently acts as a buffer between residents and the takeaways. A burger van will lead to an increase in noise and rubbish, all of which will impact on residents in the area.

This is the jist of a letter which I have written to the Council's licensing committee and I hope that they will pay attention to my and residents' objections.

Manning the Speed Trap

Spent the evening with Park's PSCO's, Traffic PC's and St Barts residents who were manning a speed trap in St Barts road. Local residents had been invited by the NAG and Police to see a speed trap at work and monitor how many drivers were speeding down the road. The road is a residential street that forms a link between the Wokingham Road and London Road. Residents are very concerned that motorists are racing down the road at high speeds endangering children and adults crossing the road.

The results were interesting. The Police had run the trap during the day and told me that motorists were averaging about 20-25mile and hour down the road, but a significant number were driving at more than 30 miles and hour.

The Police were there for about an hour and a half in that time 6 drivers were caught driving at more than 30 miles and hour. This may not sound like a significant number however it works out at one speeding car every 15 mins or 4 an hour, or between 70 and 80 speeding cars a day or more than 20,000 speeding cars a year. This makes this a significant problem and one which I will be taking up with the council.

It was good for the Police to see how many cars broke the law and I hope they run the speed trap again. I would like to thank them for letting residents see them at work and the NAG for organising the event.

No Racists in Reading

EDL members manning illegal street stall

The English Defence League were in Broad Street today with an illegal street stall handing out leaflets. I was shocked, frustrated and disgusted that they were spreading their gospel of hate in my town.

Kath, my wife and I, saw the stand as we were walking through town after a very nice lunch together.She was so angry I had to hold her arm to stop her saying something.

So shocked was I, that I rang my colleagues in the Labour Party to see if anyone knew if the EDL had permission for their street stand in Broad Street, and discovered that they did not. I am pleased to say that after my intervention the Police were called and the stand was moved on.

EDL member handing out leaflets

I was on my own but had my camera with me. I asked very politely if they would pose for photographs which they were happy to do, they wer proud of the message of hate they were pedaling. As a result of the photos I had a long discussion with the fellow shown here and tried to persuade him that racism is not the answer for Reading.

The chap said some very frightening things like, " We are being outbred 6:1 soon the pakistanis will have taken over the country." He laughed when I pointed him out that if he was worried about the birth rate then he should be at home with his wife doing something about it not pushing racist policies on the streets of my town.

He told me that he was not from Reading but from a town between here and Slough, he though it was disgusting that English schools were being swamped with foreigners. When I asked him what sort of foreigners he meant, he clearly identified pakistanis as foreign. I was appalled  I tried to see what he thought of the Eastern Europeans he said they were different because they fitted in and were Christians.

It is interesting what him and his friends said about England being a Christian country, as I told him I was actually a Christian and what church they went to, strangely enough they didn't go to church.


So now we have racists trying to muscle in on our town. Maybe they feel they have been given permission to do this becuase the Council has withdrawn funding from the RCRE in Reading maybe they wanted to use the Mosque planing application in Park, I don't know what I do know is that right minded people in Reading, from whatever party, of what ever church or faith should stand up and say we don't want racists here.

Out In the Streets

Richard with local residents in Hamilton Road

Just come back from a great door knocking session, I was in my own road, Hamilton, but colleagues were across the Ward.

It is really interesting speaking to your own neighbours about the issues that concern them. It seems that very few people were aware of the Conservatives new policy to fine residents for parking with their wheels on the curb. If you live in most of Hamilton or Bulmershe or Liverpool Roads it is almost the only way to park.

I was pleased ot be able to tell my neighbours and other residents that I am working with Labour colleagues in fighting the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats plans and that they are finally considering another U Turn.

So do I like door knocking, yes, and even more when I am close enough at the end of the session to walk home and have my lunch.

Comment on the "Big Society"

Was having Twitter conversation with a friend this afternoon and they commented about something I was doing saying, " you are more than a gent-in fact you would be the living embodiment of the "big society" if it weren't a load of "Tory Bollocks" - Nough said really.

Taking Up An Offer

With the Maiden Erlegh Catchment situtation, I have been struck at how the Head of Bulmershe has tried to reach out to the concerned parents of Park Ward. At Wokingham's first public meeting, Bulmershe's Head, Peter Lewis made the offer for concerned residents to come and have an honest look at his school. At the meeting last week, Wokingham's Head of Education made the same offer.

I decided to take up this offer and actually try and see what Bulmershe school is like. On Friday, I met up with Peter Lewis, who was very honest about his school, the schools results and aspirations.

I won't write about my impressions, Mr Lewis was willing to spend nearly 2 hours with me and to take me throw all the years of his school. I found it beneficial and however I would urge any parents and residents to take the Head up on his offer, meet with him and take a tour of the school.

Reading's Tories Stand with Wokingham's Tories

Reading Tory Cllr Isobel Balsdon supporting Wokingham's Tories

I have just come back from the Consultation meeting which Wokingham Borough Council held to hear residents views about their latest proposals for the Maiden Erlegh Catchment area.

I had a conversation with Cllr Rob Stanton leader of Wokingham Borough Council, who was completely committed to the plan. He really does believe that he is trying to do the best for Wokingham's and Reading's children.

It was a shame to see that Reading's Conservatives were supporting Wokingham Borough Council as you can see in the attached photo, Tory Reading Councillor Isobel Balsdon is see here supporting Wokingham's Tories as they work to exclude Reading's children from Maiden Erlegh.

Vote Lost, Lib Dems betray their principles

The Lib Dems sold the youth of the nation down the river today. The vote for tuition fees was lost and the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition have condemned English young people to a life of debt.

The violence in London can only be regretted and should not have happened, The Lib Dems have damaged politics, not only have they gone back on their pledge, given at an election, but they have proved all those who say politicians cannot be trusted right.

I was on the Reading demo yesterday and am pleased to say it was peaceful, well reasoned and made a strong point, You can see me in the middle of the shot with the silly hat. Campaigning against Tuition Fees is connected with campaigning about the Maiden Erlegh catchment area. It is about equity in education and ensuring that all young people have access to good fair access to education.

The Conservatives and Lib Dems have shown that they are against equality locally and nationally. We know where they stand now and we can react accordingly.

All Students Want For Christmas is a No Vote.

I have just received the attached from the University Students' Union, of its campaign before Parliamentary vote where the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition will move their bill to increase student fees from £3000 to £9000 per year. This being despite the Lib Dems stating before the election that they would remove student fees:

Reading University Students’ Union encourages all Reading Students to unite with the people of Reading on the ‘Local Day of Action’ Wednesday 8th December, one day before the fees vote in parliament.

Once again, we would like to show our opposition to the cuts to Higher Education and the plans to triple fees to £9,000.

We will be congregating at 2pm outside the RUSU building and then walking into town to meet others outside Reading Town Hall at 3pm. On arrival we will be ‘Dumping our Debt’ in the metaphorical sense in the form of filled bin bags. So bring along your filled bin liner and write your campaign message on it.

We encourage you to dress up in an attempt to draw as much attention to ourselves as possible. E.g. zombies, Santas, angels, clowns, graduation gowns etc. Bring along your banners and posters and have your chants ready!

We want to send a strong message to our 2 local MPs, Rob Wilson and Alok Sharma that…


All we want for Christmas is a NO vote!

A Gateway Out Of The Gloom

After the gloom of this week's news on Wokingham's catchment area proposal, a good event is happening today.

The Neighbourhood Action Groups, I'm a member of the Uni and Redlands group, in conjunction with the Council are starting to look at ways in which Cemy Junction can be improved. As a resident of the Junc since the early 90's this is something I have wanted for a long time. It is a great little spot, with unique shops, like the computer shop, Islamic shop and sowing machine shop all around.Most of us use the Coop daily and of course Wycliffe Baptist. The Baptist Church and the Coop have been keys to the community for over a century and it is great in the summer to be part of an outdoor Wycliffe service on the forecourt. I can't remember if I blogged about the Baptism that was held in the summer outside and on the forecourt, but it had to be seen to be believed.

The Junc is simply amazing. Anyone who hasn't had the chance to chill out and stroll around the Cemetery has missed out. If you are lucky you might even see the deer.

So the junction is the only place where you can get some peace and tranquility, spot real wild life, go to church and pop out of a pint of milk all at the same time. It deserves to be improved and I look forward to the NAG plying its part in the improvement.

Tories and Liberal Democrats on Reading Borough Council Fail their Voters.

This is a picture of the residents of Park Ward before the Council Meeting this evening, where we were bringing the Petition, to ask the Council to support us, Asking two questions, and Park Ward Councillor Jon Hartley was bringing a motion asking the Council to support the residents campaign and be willing if necessary to take legal advice in order to threaten Wokingham with legal action.

As you can see we are all relatively happy and looking forward to a positive meeting. Unfortunately the Tories and the Liberal Democrats combined to thwart the cross party consensus that has been built up and decided to attack members of the Parents group. I am very cross about the meeting, and may have been a little intemperate with my comments in the meeting, so apologise ,in public, if I spoke out of turn.

Petition Presentation.
I presented the petition, and asked the Council to support the more than 600 people who had taken the time to sign it. I asked a simple question, how far was the Tory/Lib Dem Council willing to go in support of parents. Councillor Ralph, lead Councillor for Education, hedged his answer and began to attack the Labour Party, This being despite the all party consensus about the issue that had previously been established.

Questions to Council
This is where it started to really kick off, Karly asked a reasonable question and got a non committal answer. I asked what the Council would do to support the campaign and Cllr Ralph indicated that he would reply to the consultation, but not threaten legal action. He the proceeded to attack me. Very nice, very cowardly, very weak.

Motion to Council
Cllr Jon Hartley had kindly arranged with the Mayor to bring the motion forward so we could hear it at a reasonable time. Jon proposed the motion and Cllr White seconded it. They made clear and cogent arguments as to why RBC should support the motion.

Then something odd happened, instead of Park Ward's Tory Councillor standing up and supporting the motion, which he had had in his hands for nearly 3 weeks, Cllr Ralph stood up and presented a counter Motion which removed any attempt to seek legal advice and which refused to threaten legal action.

And even stranger thing happened,Liberal Democrat Cllr Rebecca Rye, despite saying in an email that she supported parents, stood up and supported Cllr Ralph's weaker motion. In effect she went back on her word and refused to support the parents.

And then something even stranger happened. We were stabbed in the back by the two Tory Councillors who made as if they supported the campaign, that being Park Tory Cllr Hussain and Thames Tory Cllr Balsdon. Balsdon even had the gall to shout at a Green Road resident. Park Tory Hussain, stood up and simply supported his fellow Tories, while trying to soften the blow by soft soaping, myself, Jane and the other parent campaigners.

And then it got worse. The Tories, seemed to enjoy attacking the Parents in the public gallery, and especially me. They seemed to think that the campaign was some kind of political football rather than the cross party and cross community effort that it had been hitherto.

The Lib Dems were even worse. They divided their time between, attacking the parents, attacking the Labour group, attacking the Greens, or was that the Tories who attacked the Greens, I forget now. When they weren't spreading bile about the place they were texting or on Facebook. The two worst offenders were, Cllr Swaine, (Katesgrove), Cllr Daisy Benson ( Redlands). Benson was very rude, because she was actively laughing at the parents..


So the meeting dragged to a close. Balsdon attacking members of the public, Hussain, letting his constituents down, the Lib Dems who promised so much changing their tune and laughing at residents...No change their then.


We fight on.

Winston Churchill had a phrase when things had gone against him, that was Keep Buggering On. That is what we have to do, keep lobbying Reading Borough Council to support its residents, if necessary with legal action, keep lobbying Wokingham Borough Council, who sent a spy to the meeting, and keep responding to the consultation.

At The Council Meeting

Am sitting in the Council chamber. Have just sat down after presenting the Maiden Erlegh petition to council and asking two questions. I was shocked and dismayed that Tory Cllr Ralph tried to dodge any questions about whether the Council will support residents with legal action. I was also shocked to hear him try and blame the Labour Party for the problem and deviated from the cross party work which we have been trying to build up. Very disappointing and very worrying.